Thirteen homes along the Long Beach Peninsula have already been red-tagged following lashings by powerful waves and the city is bracing for the possibility of another round of high tides that could cause even more damage to an already vulnerable coastline.
Parts of the boardwalk washed away after multiple rounds of high tides and powerful surf along the stretch of coastline caused extensive destruction. Thirteen homes were red-tagged, another was yellow-tagged, nine homes remain under evacuation orders and 39 others are under evacuation warnings.
Over the past six weeks, the peninsula was repeatedly battered by the strong surf, ripping apart the historic boardwalk and damaging homes along the water. The City of Long Beach is continuing to make repairs as residents brace for more high tides.
“We continue to do a lot of work, and then unfortunately have to restart that work after we have a significant high tide event with that wave activity,” said Jake Heflin, Long Beach Fire Department Assistant Chief. “But this is part of that ongoing process.”
Heflin said crews have been working diligently to minimize further damage by making emergency repairs and shoring up the area.
“The biggest concern is undermining of the foundations, so we’ve done a lot of work to identify and isolate that to the best of our ability,” he said.
Last month, the city declared a local emergency following the damage from Hurricane Marie. This helped the city strengthen its ability to prepare for and respond to potential flooding, coastal erosion, infrastructure damage and other storm-related hazards.
The damage along Long Beach’s Peninsula continues to grow after days of powerful waves battered homes. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, 2026.
“These events are happening at a pace that is unprecedented in our community,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said. “Three major storm events, tropical storms and hurricanes within six weeks is unprecedented. Our infrastructure wasn’t designed or built for this.”
The city is focusing on the cleanup while working to protect this stretch of coastline from further damage and taking steps to make it more resilient.
“We have to prepare for even more severe conditions through this El Niño season,” Richardson said. “Our responsibility is to use what we’re learning now to build stronger protections for the future.”
Building inspectors are continuing to evaluate the properties and the extent of the damage. There’s no timeline on when evacuation orders or warnings will be lifted.
People are encouraged to sign up for Alert Long Beach to receive emergency notifications.